Indians Confidential

When Omar Vizquel played for the Indians in their glory days, scoring runs was not much of a problem.  Fast forward to the Indians of 2008, and this edition of the Indians have offensive issues, and once again in Omar’s return to Cleveland those issues reared its ugly head.  The Indians put up a bland two runs on Tuesday night, allowing Vizquel and the Giants to win game one of the two teams three-game set 3-2 at Progressive Fied.

Omar was the story, first with an extended highlight film before the first pitch to getting a standing ovation in his first at-bat, to laying down a perfect bunt that got a huge third run over in the 9th, this night belonged to possibly the most beloved Indian in franchise history.  Oh, he also made a great play in the 9th with the game still in doubt.  Same old Omar.

As for the Indians, it was a bitter pill to swallow as they return home for an interleague homestand that hopefully will keep them fighting in the AL Central.  This was not the way to start it.  They got a first inning run from the bat of Ryan Garko who drove home the run with a two-out single, but from there were shut down till their run in the 9th that got them close, but not close enough.

Three Giants pitchers, starting with Jonathan Sanchez, shut the Tribe down for a majority of the night.  Sanchez went 7.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking two and striking out eight.  Aaron Laffey was okay, allowing one run on 6.2 innings.  He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out one.

The Giants plated a run each in the 8th and 9th for the win, the run in the 8th scoring on a silly throw from catcher Kelly Shoppach trying to nail a runner at second trying to steal with two outs.  The ball came in low, and he was charged an error, at the same time allowing a run to score to make it 2-1.

The ninth inning run off of Masa Kobayashi came when he allowed a walk, a single, then a ground out to put runners on second and third.  Omar then laid down a bunt that Casey Blake couldn’t handle, and it allowed the winning run to cross the plate.  In usual Indians fashion, they had the tying run on first with two outs in the 9th when Shoppach on a full count struck out to end the game.

The loss puts the Indians back at 7 games under .500, at 35-42.  Wednesday night it’s Jeremy Sowers (0-2 6.57) vs Barry Zito (2-11, 6.32) at 7:05pm.

Today is a day that some in Cleveland have waited a long time for, as former shortstop Omar Vizquel is back in Cleveland for the first time since he left the team in 2004.  Omar remains one of the most, if not the most beloved players in Indians history.  About 4:30 today he spoke with the Cleveland media for the first time, and talked about being back in town with his new team - the Giants.

 

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Fan favorite and slick fielding short stop Omar Vizquel returns to Cleveland as the Indians play host to the San Francisco Giants for a three game set. This will be Omar’s first return to Cleveland since he last played for the Tribe in 2004. His years here were filled with Gold-Gloves and a top of the batting order eye at the plate. It will be great to again see him here prowling between second and third ready to gobble up a fast approaching ground ball with ease. Omar always seemed to make playing short look so effortless and he always did it with an enthusiasm and a smile.

When I’ve asked people what they remember most about Omar, the answers always seem to be one of two things, they either recall his bare-hand catch and throws, or the sights of watching him playing a kids’ game and enjoying every minute of it. His numbers aren’t that of what they use to be, as he is only hitting a mere .171 at the bottom of San Francisco’s line up and he may have lost a little of his range in the field, but that won’t stop the fans at Progressive Field from giving him the Standing “O”, that he deserves when he first takes the field for the Giants.

The Indians dreams of a weekend sweep in L.A. vs the Dodgers were swept away by one bonehead base running decision by third base coach Joel Skinner in the 5th inning that allowed the Dodgers to escape with a 4-3 win to salvage the finale of the three-game set.  The loss puts the Indians back at 35-41, and they end the six-game stretch vs the Rockies and Dodgers at 2-4 when it could have easily been 3-3.

The mistake came with the Indians down a run, and Jhonny Peralta on first with David Dellucci at the plate.  Dellucci doubled down the first base line, and Peralta came racing around second to third.  Skinner waived him home, and Andre Ethier’s throw to second baseman Luis Maza came into the plate with plenty of time to spare, nailing Peralta and ending the threat.

Fromt there, the Indians had just one hit, a double by Peralta in the 7th with two outs, but from there, were shut down the rest of the day and never really came close to getting that tying run across the plate again.  The loss again was suffered by Paul Byrd, who allowed four runs on five hits in the first inning to fall to 3-8.  A James Loney RBI double brought in two runs, then catcher Russell Martin homered, a Byrd trademark, to bring in two more runs to make it 4-0.

The Indians did rally off of Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley in the third to make it 4-3.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a fielders choice to drive in a run, then a hit by Ryan Garko past short make it 4-2.  Casey Blake hit a ground out to short to make it 4-3, but as stated above, that was about all she wrote for the Indians offense for the rest of the day.

Four Dodger relief pitchers shut the Indians down, as they allowed just one hit, no walks and four strikeouts over the final four innings.  Byrd would have been great minus that first inning, as he went 7 innings, allowing the four runs on seven hits, not allowing a walk and striking out one.  His ERA sits at 5.21 following the loss.

The Indians get Monday off as they get back home for two more series’ vs the National League this week. Tuesday night it’s the return of Omar Vizquel to Progressive Field, as the 32-44 San Fran Giants come in for the first of three, then the Reds come in over the weekend for the rahter overrated “Battle of Ohio” part two.